Almond Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the almonds
Pour boiling water over the almonds and bitter almonds.
Rub off the skins with a wet cloth.
Make the paste
Pound the nuts in a mortar to a smooth paste, adding rosewater as needed to prevent oiliness.
Finish the icing
Mix the almond paste thoroughly with the confectioner's icing.
Use the icing immediately.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Shelled almonds
- Provide the main nutty flavour and the bulk of the paste.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a stronger, more pronounced almond aroma to the paste.
- Rosewater
- Loosens the pounded nuts and keeps the paste from becoming oily.
- Confectioner's icing
- Adds sweetness and body so the almond paste sets into a spreadable icing.
The step that matters
Pounding the nuts to a smooth paste. Nuts release oil as they are crushed, so the paste can turn greasy and grainy. Adding rosewater a little at a time keeps it smooth and workable, and the icing should be used soon after mixing because it stiffens and dries as it sits.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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